‘All Man: The International Male Story’ Blu-Ray Review – A Fascinating Look At A Cultural Shift

ALL MAN: The International Male Story journeys across three decades of the catalog’s unlikely but lasting impact on fashion, masculinity, and sexuality in America. Gene Burkard, a once-closeted Midwesterner and GI, found freedom in San Diego, where he transformed men’s fashion into something cosmopolitan, carefree, and trend-setting. International Male reached gay and straight customers alike as it redefined images of masculinity in popular culture, generating revenue and circulation in the millions.

This character-driven documentary crafts a portrait of a band of outsiders who changed the way men would look – at themselves, at each other, and how the world would look at them. This is their story – a modern day fairy tale about a dream that really did come true.

For thoughts on All Man: The International Male Story, please check out my colleague Mike Vaughn’s review from its original festival debut here. 

Video Quality

All Man: The International Male Story comes to MOD Blu-Ray in its original aspect ratio from a top notch high definition master. The film is made up of new interviews with excerpts from various archival sources interspersed for artistry and context. The newly filmed interview footage looks as vibrant and clear as you would expect modern interviews to look in a controlled location. The footage of the older material is inconsistent, yet it seems to be in the best condition you could ask for from this particular footage. 

The colors spotlighted are very fetching as they provide a nice visual pop off the screen. Interview segments deliver natural skin tones and detailed facial features in front of colorful backgrounds. Black levels are strong and do not showcase any crush. The transfer appears to have plenty of room to breathe as there are no issues with compression artifacts, banding or other digital nuisances. Giant Pictures has delivered an enviable presentation for audiences. 

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a flawless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that presents the material well. Dialogue is given the priority here, and it is never overwhelmed by competing elements. The archival material sometimes shows its deficiencies, but for the most part the track never lacks when it comes to clarity. The surround sound presentation rarely takes advantage of the expanded channel allotment in unique ways, but the music fills the room up nicely with lovely fidelity. The audio track delivers the information exactly as needed and desired. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided on this disc. 

Special Features

• Trailer: The nearly two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here. 

Final Thoughts

All Man: The International Male Story is a straightforward but really well-made documentary which does a nice job of both exploring its subject and explaining to audiences unfamiliar with it why they should care. The interviews are very lively and entertaining as hell, yet this is not simply a fluffy picture with no thematic or cultural substance. There is an obvious amount of care put into crafting this into a spry and rewarding viewing experience, and that really comes through for the audience. Giant Pictures has released a new MOD Blu-Ray that features a very impressive A/V presentation but almost nothing in the way of special features. If you want a breezy and enjoyable look into this subject, you will not go wrong here. Recommended 

All Man: The International Male Story can be purchased on Blu-Ray directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Giant Pictures has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.